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Ethnic Knitting: A Roundtable Discussion (cont'd)
by L'Tanya Durante

Gina Griffin, Mad Love Knits, www.madloveknits.com

On inspiration…
"When I see a symbol or a color that beautifully expresses or crystallizes an aspect of a particular culture, then I want to find something to do with that idea. I want other people to see it the way that I see it."

"I also like the idea of mixing up things from various cultures. Juxtaposing two cultures is somehow a challenge for me, and that doesn't seem to get old. That also seems to express a very modern view of the world that we live in now, where everything is getting closer and our cultures seem less separate, less discrete."

On ethnic symbols…
"Symbols encode meaning. Cables and a lot of stitch patterns have some sort of story or meaning behind them, but symbols are unmistakable. They're shorthand for 'This is who I am!' or 'This is what I believe.'"

"I discovered Adinkra symbols because someone on one of my lists brought them up. I'd never heard of them before, not in design school, or in the years after. I love the fact that they're these very powerful messages encoded in one or two tiny images, and that they embody something powerful about that culture. And, I also love exposing people to something cultural that they might not have seen before. And sometimes, as with Little Middle Passage, it's just about telling a story. I love storytelling in any form, and want to make sure that aspects of my own culture are not forgotten."

On passion…
"There's so much in design in general that's already been done. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm easily bored. I rarely knit the same pattern twice, and once I do learn something new, I'm already bored of it and moving on to the next thing. Reinterpreting ethnic designs or symbology is a way of keeping things fresh for me. And it's also a way to express my own ethnicity."

On process…
For me, the hardest thing was to learn to turn off the self-editor in my head. Now that I've learned to do that, I'm so busy with other things that it's hard to find the time to just sit down and knit or spin. When I do find the time, I'm either struck by lightning or I think up a problem to solve. For example, I love poetry, especially poetry by Native American poets like Joy Harjo. As I'm listening, I'll think about the words and the elements in the poem, and think about that culture. I think 'How would I express that culture or that idea or that emotion visually?' There's usually a little research involved...I'll email a friend or find something online to make sure that I'm using symbols which are OK to use in a project, since I would never want to be disrespectful. Then, I think what would make the most sense...how should it be placed? On a sweater or on a bag? Would it be better as a repeating symbol, or would it be more powerful on its own?"

"I wish I could travel more. I do travel locally. If there's a powwow and some jingle dancing nearby, I want to be there. If they're creating a sand mandala a few towns over or some lama dancing, I'll hop in the car and go. I do ask lots of questions and take lots of pictures, if it's allowed. I'm tactile and visual, so I want to see and touch everything, as possible. I'll bring home my digital pics, scraps of fabric, notecards, and put them away until I need them."

"I'm a movie junkie and I read voraciously. While I'm watching or reading something, I'm constantly thinking, "How can I use that?" Sometimes, I'll hear a phrase from a book or a piece of music and think, "What would that look like?" Design is generally about things that are either meaningful to me, or which solve a problem that has presented itself."

On advice…
"Most of all, you have to be unafraid to rip things out or erase your drawing and start over if you know it's not working. Nothin' wrong with that! But the converse is also true...at some point, you have to settle on a design, let it be good enough and move ahead. You'll learn something from the project, even if you don't love it."

On her style…
“'Helped are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception and realize a partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful.' That's Alice Walker. To me, it's the creative equivalent of Just do it!"

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